Alonzo returned to his room; he didn't want to meet with Isah today. He had come here especially to learn the spell. He sat on his bed with the book in his hand and projected the images inside the book back into his head with the help of the magic channels.
Abruptly, those images became more like a video inside his head — someone demonstrating the spell to him: a figure in a dark cloak, an unnatural man. He didn't pay attention to the figure's appearance; he watched the channeling movements and chants intently. After several minutes of watching the cloaked person's demonstration, he put the book down and got up from the bed.
'I can't test this spell here; it will burn this building down!'
So he decided the best course of action was to go into the nearby forest around the city — Karaban City, more specifically. He slowly opened the door to his room and went downstairs.
"You always come and go at strange hours!" exclaimed Leia, the motel owner, shaking her head.
"Duty calls me!" he said as he hurried outside.
He put the mask on and ran to the woods. After ten minutes of sprinting, he finally reached an isolated place where he could practice. Alonzo concentrated and chanted some words in the Lambru language, the language of the mages. As he finished chanting, he channeled his mana into his hand; as a result, he shot black-colored lightning from his palm.
'Extremely powerful,' he thought, as the rock in front of him exploded. It didn't drain as much mana as he had expected. 'Could it be because I'm better at channeling my mana now?' He shook his head and stopped thinking about it. Tomorrow morning he would travel to the mana gazer in the forest. He returned silently to his motel. As he went inside, he saw Leia drunk with a few men at a table. Alonzo tried to sneak past them but heard a voice coming from behind him.
"Hey you, come here and give me a kiss!"
Alonzo was stunned. Did this person not realize he was a man? He ignored him and continued back to his room. The man tried to touch him, but Alonzo quickly responded with a judo throw over his shoulder. Silence fell in the room. Alonzo continued to his room. Leia looked surprised but didn't intervene.
'I really must buy myself a house; I can't keep attracting attention like this,' thought Alonzo as he went to his room.
He didn't rest but brought out his space ring — another tier-one item — and a spatially oriented spell book titled "Basic Space Manipulation," which was the basis of spatial magic. He could use it to distort the space around him and do various other things. He sat on the bed, opened the book and looked inside for a second, then projected the images into his head: various demonstrations performed by a gentlemanly man wearing a monocle. After thirty minutes, Alonzo finally closed the book and got up. He tried to manipulate the space around him. Small distortions appeared, but his mana was quickly consumed, so he stopped using the spell.
As soon as he stopped conjuring the spell, a knock sounded at his door.
'Huh — in the middle of the night. Who could it be?'
Alonzo opened the door. It was Leia, the motel owner.
"Hey, I don't mind you beating that rude guy up, but conjuring spells in my motel is not allowed!" said Leia, pointing a finger.
Alonzo was stunned. 'Could she be a mage or something?' Leia saw his surprise and clarified:
"Don't worry about it, I was once a member of the same team you're in!"
Alonzo remembered the warnings Isah had given about Leia, so he decided to be polite. "I deeply apologize for the inconvenience. I promise I will not repeat this action in this precinct!"
Leia nodded in approval and left. Alonzo closed the door and realized that he was covered in cold sweat. 'Did she use her aura on me? Crazy woman!'
Alonzo took a towel and cleaned his face; after that he didn't rest but went straight back to training his physical capabilities. This occurrence reminded him of his weakness; he wanted to remedy it so it would never happen again. He decided that instead of sleeping he would meditate — sleeping meant wasting too much of his limited, precious time. After training for a few hours, he began meditating.
Soon it was morning. Alonzo was taken out of his meditation state when the door was forcefully pushed open, which startled him.
"What are you doing? I thought something happened to you. Why didn't you come to training yesterday?" many questions were fired at him by none other than Isah, Alonzo's teacher.
"I was training so hard I forgot to come," he tried to come up with as an excuse.
"Don't tell me you trained all night. Even if you meditate, your body still needs to recover!" Isah began to nag him.
'Annoying.'
"Isah, I don't feel exhausted at all. Also, I'll have to be gone for a few days. I have something important to do, something personal," said Alonzo without giving her any hints.
Isah was taken aback; she thought he trusted her enough to tell her most things, but it seemed she was wrong. She still thought of him as a son, perhaps, and it hurt her.
"Can I know at least where you're going?" Isah decided to give him some space; she didn't want to be too overprotective.
"Near this city, in the forest!"
"In the forest? Be careful — there are many beasts in there. At least take this: whenever you're in danger, blow this whistle!" she said, handing him a whistle.
Alonzo nodded and left his room, going on his way and leaving Isah behind staring at him.
"Cough, who will pay for this door?" said Leia, who had magically stayed off radar all this time in the corner of the room.
Isah puffed and said, "Here!" as she tossed a gold coin on the ground and left the room.
Alonzo felt slightly tired, but he brushed it off — he had more important things to do!
He headed toward the forest. It didn't take long for him to get to the location of the word gazers; it was situated inside a big castle. Now came the hard part. This place was heavily guarded by some noble's private forces. At first he thought of infiltrating, but that seemed like a dumb idea — his appearance would give him away. He started racking his brains for a plan until he suddenly saw a bunch of junior knights in armor, including helmets that covered their heads.
'This is perfect,' he thought. Alonzo started eyeing the group; he saw a certain short knight delve deeper into the woods to urinate. Naturally, he followed him and, when he got far enough, knocked him out and took his armour. He went back to the group.
"So, Call, what do you think about me and Emma?" an unknown knight said, touching his shoulder and asking him.
He simply coughed and made a few signs, indicating he could not speak. The knight didn't say anything more and left, which made Alonzo sigh in relief. He tried to enter the castle, but some guards stopped him at the entrance.
"Take off your helmet — we need to identify you!" the guards said as they slowly approached.
"The lord has sent me on a secret mission here; I cannot reveal my identity!"
The guards looked at each other, then pointed their spears at him.
"Last chance — prove you're not an intruder!"
Alonzo didn't move and said in a flat tone, "If you wish to keep your heads, let me pass. The lord is merciful."
The knights saw how unfazed he was, making them unsure of what to do.
"If your mission is so secret, at least give us something that proves you're not a spy!"
Alonzo took out an emblem — the adventurer rank badge the guild had given him.
"I am employed by your lord to resolve a secret task!"
The knights finally conceded and let him pass.
'Guess I am really good at bluffing,' he thought.
Alonzo went inside and the first thing he saw was a bunch of students trying to learn magic. The world gazers can boost a mage's power and help them grow their sensitivity, so low-level talents can learn magic; the only issue was that you needed connections to use such a thing. Alonzo ignored them for now but quietly got close to the giant hole in the ground, which was supposed to be the word gazer. He got just close enough not to attract attention and to use the effect of the gazer. He felt his body reinvigorated; the external effects of the gazer were amazing — they made Alonzo feel like he could crush this entire castle if he wanted to. But he didn't let this feeling cloud his judgment; after all, pleasure can be deceiving. He sat down on a bench, closed his eyes and meditated. He could feel his core better; the yellow moon core had green ripples now, ready to burst at any moment. But Alonzo knew this place was not ideal, so he devised a plan: he would come here every day until he reached the verge of a breakthrough, then leave immediately, hide, and advance in a safe place. This plan was daring, but high risks mean high rewards. He got up but didn't leave; he wanted to explore. There was definitely something important here. He entered the main building, which was a giant watchtower in the middle of the fortress. There he was greeted by the sight of many knights guarding what appeared to be nothing. He delved deeper and climbed down the stairs to the very bottom. He was surprised by the depth of this tower — it was several stories underground. After five minutes of going down, he finally reached the bottom. There he didn't find any guards, but he found a ring inside a glass sphere situated on a table. Alonzo went up to the ring but didn't immediately take it; instead, he conjured his shadow to slowly take it. After taking the ring, he put it on and was assaulted by nausea, making him drop to his knees.
'What the hell?'
He began hearing a voice deep in his head: "Freedom! Freedom!" It was a heretical voice, yelling at the top of its lungs. Alonzo tried to use his magic power to restrain it, but the ring fought back. Seeing this, Alonzo activated Draining Grasp, making the voice in the ring scream in pain: "No more, no more, please have mercy!"
Alonzo paused and asked, "Who are you and why are you in this ring?"
"I am just a Devros, a legendary knight who got sealed in this accursed ring, and as for why I am here, it's because humanity betrayed me. After using me they left me to rot!"
This story reminded him of himself, but he didn't show any empathy; quite the contrary.
"Tell me more about your so-called betrayal!"
The voice paused, unsure of the answer, then replied, "I wanted to unite humanity. After sealing the luminari scum, I offered myself as a guardian of this new nation, but they got greedy, and everyone wanted power for themselves, forgetting about the greater good!"
Alonzo sneered, "Such a foolish thing to do. Putting your faith blindly in others is like asking someone not to rob you after you show them divine treasures. Still, a very selfless action to decide not to be the ruler!"
"But now the real question comes: What are you worth to me? Why shouldn't I destroy you?"
"Wait — my knowledge and my techniques. I can teach you; just don't destroy me and promise to give me a body!" the trapped knight tried to negotiate.
Alonzo frowned and activated Draining Grasp again. "You're in no position to demand anything from me; perhaps you should reevaluate your offer."
"Please, I misstepped. I will do your bidding to the best of my ability. There's no need for you to give me anything. You're my master after all," the knight begged.
Alonzo stopped and shook his head. "Just as expected — everyone fears death to a certain extent!"
"Master, I still have much to do in this world. I prefer not dying first," the knight tried to correct him.
"Let's talk later. First I'll get out of here!" said Alonzo as he went back outside to where he had knocked out the knight.